A Roadtrip Gone Wrong Proved Fertile Inspiration for Yuima Nakazato’s Spring 2025 Couture

by · WWD
Yuima Nakazato Spring 2025 Couture at Paris Couture WeekGuillaume Roujas/Courtesy of Yui

A trip to part of the Sahara that was once deep below the sea got Yuima Nakazato thinking about time and aging. His car got lost in the desert in the middle of the night, and with no phone signal or GPS, he erred through the dunes and got lost in his thoughts, remembering the mythical “Namazu,” or giant catfish, that is meant to live beneath the Earth and is believed to cause earthquakes. Could his native Tokyo suffer such a fate?

“Environments are changing. It’s hard to imagine Tokyo becoming a desert, but it could happen. This for me is the message,” said Nakazato backstage.

He reflected on how couture is the counter-opposite of mass production in fashion, and thought about how future generations might discover the remnants of today’s garments amid the sand, weathered by the eons.

The final look was a dress composed of more than 2,000 bronze-colored ceramic squares made and assembled by hand, a task that took around 1,000 hours. In the striking tableau that ended the show, Nakazato unearthed it from the sand pile at the center of the venue and helped the model to dress.

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His collections always show a striking combination of poetry and technical prowess. Here, some of the most innovative creations featured openwork crochet in organic shapes that molded the silhouette and revealed the body beneath. They were made from a combination of colored threads and metal chains, and took on average 500 hours to make.

Heavy ceramic jewelry and sculpted accessories suggested eroded rock formations, and a cracked-earth motif was embroidered in gold sequins here and there. Close-up photographs from the trip were transformed into blurry prints on semi-transparent mesh undergarments and gauzy, flowing fabrics that were draped or knotted around the body.

These were layered with tailored looks in black, white or a combination of the two, with spliced two-tone jackets and zip-sided pants worn open over sneakers featuring innovative Dry Fiber Technology from Epson made using recycled textiles.

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